One common way for a blood vessel to become obstructed is from deposition of clot inside the lumen of the blood vessels. A clot is understood throughout this application as a product of a blood coagulation in hemostasis. Clots can restrict the antegrade blood flow through the lumens of these blood vessels to the body tissues. To that end, any blockage or obstruction of a blood vessel can lead to many serious medical complications. For example, tissue may become damaged due to the decrease in the oxygen that often results from the obstructions in the vessel. Similarly, brain circulation can be affected and result in an ischemic stroke.
In order to restore flow restoration, the clot needs to be removed from the vasculature. Current clot retrieval devices on the market are constructed of a single tube that acts to retrieve a blood clot by enrapturing the clot through the struts of the stent. Such devices then drag the blood clot through the vasculature and out of the body.
Unfortunately, such approaches can only capture clots from a single tube or catheter and/or from a single side that in turn rely upon the outward force of the stent, and the ability of the struts to latch onto and entrap the clot. The problem with these types of retrievers is that they entrap the clot from the inside of the clot, and not from the outside. Capturing the clot from the inside can present difficulties for several reasons. Most notably, as the clot adheres to the vessel wall, the single-tube device may not have enough force to grasp the clot off of its wall.
Other known approaches have suffered from using fixed basket shapes or delivering baskets to a region of interest in the vasculature unsafely, such as U.S. Pat. Pub. 2015/0265299A1 to the University of Toledo or U.S. Pat. No. 9,358,022 to Inoha LLC. For example, these disclosures deliver a first fixed basket proximally relative to the clot and then deliver a second fixed basket distal of the clot. During positioning of the second fixed basket, however, these approaches tend to puncture the clot and risk injury to the patient by permitting particles dislodged from the clot to enter the flow of blood in the vasculature.
Previously known solutions have therefore depended on factors such as material, size, cell design, pre-determined basket size, unsafe deliveries, and internal friction of the clot retrievers. Previous approaches have also focused heavily on extra manipulation by the end-user to precisely, safely, and reliably arrange and position the clot capturing devices within the vasculature without rupturing the vessel wall or allow particles of the clot to enter the flow of blood in the vasculature. In turn, success and safety has relied heavily on end-user accuracy during delivery. Such approaches therefore unnecessarily increase risk of injury to the patient. Moreover, such clot capturing devices can be difficult to recapture after being delivered and/or deployed to vasculature areas of interest further risking detrimental effects of brain and/or cardiac function, including fatality, can result.
Therefore, prior approaches for removal of such clots have suffered from being too intrusive, unsafe, lack control and exert too much pressure on the vessel itself. Accordingly, there remains a need for new devices to safely and effectively remove an obstructing clot within the blood vessel wall.